Tier VI Seeker ⓪
I handed Noppo and Debu over to the guards who had heard the commotion.
According to the guards, this Noppo and Debu were Tier VI Seekers.
Apparently, they were Torquetum’s stalkers, so to speak.
They had seemingly been marked as suspicious individuals appearing around the girls.
The girls were more popular than I thought.
Since they possess considerable strength, there haven’t been any direct attempts using force.
However, I heard that it wasn’t just Parties but entire Clans targeting them.
In fact, Noppo and Debu were low-ranking members of Clan ‘Dragon Fang Row’.
‘Dragon Fang Row’—I don’t know them. I wonder if Mineha-san does.
Regardless, drawing a sword within the city is a serious crime.
Everyone knows you’ll get caught if the guards find you.
Common sense dictates that if you’re going to draw your weapon, you do it where no one is around. Even Koon Hunt knows that much.
That’s how I came to realize that being popular must be tough.
I spent the entire walk home thinking.
How could I persuade Mineha-san?
The large amount of sweets I received as thanks might just be perfect. I’ll make use of them.
Mineha-san is a girl too. She loves sweets.
But that alone felt insufficient, so I stopped by the usual butcher shop and bought some Assorted Meat and beef.
Not Monster beef. 100% beef.
“Hey. Did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
I overheard voices while buying the meat. Seekers, perhaps.
Two men, chatting while drinking.
“The Dungeon investigation team. Seems they’re back.”
“Really? Does that mean it’s reopening?”
“Idiot. Too soon. There’s the investigation report, you know. They’ll make a decision based on that, so it’ll still take time.”
“Ah, Guild work, huh. So, did anyone die?”
“No deaths, but seems like there were injuries.”
“Guess that’s better then. Anyway. The whole Dungeon will finally be accessible again.”
“Yeah. We can finally explore the city’s Dungeon again after so long.”
“The collection requests for the 6th floor. There’s quite a backlog, right?”
“Doing those sounds good too.”
So the closure is finally being lifted. But I’m not a Seeker.
Still, there are ways to get in. Maybe I should ask Ax-san and the others.
After buying the meat, I hurried home.
“I’m home.”
“Welcome back.”
“Na!”
Mineha-san, along with Dagaa, greeted me. Perfect timing.
The girl and the creature immediately glanced at the meat package and the bag of sweets in my hands.
“You bought quite a bit.”
“There are sweets too. They were a gift.”
“Oh my.”
“About that, I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
I put down all the bags, took a small breath, and exhaled.
“It’s about the Watchtower… well, the need to check something there has actually come up.”
“What do you mean?”
Mineha-san’s gaze sharpened at the word “check.”
“Actually—”
I told her everything without hiding anything and showed her the Holy Seal.
Mineha-san listened silently, nodding while stroking Dagaa.
“Hayarn’s Legacy, huh. A Holy Seal. Hmm. Alright, fine.”
“Really!?”
“On the condition that I get to see too, since I’m interested.”
“Of course. Hey, stop that!”
“Na?”
“I’ll give that to you later, so behave.”
“Na?”
Dagaa was trying to open the box of sweets, so I scolded him and picked him up.
Honestly, can’t let my guard down for a second. Mineha-san laughed too.
The house I live in. My dwelling isn’t strictly a house, but a warehouse.
Because of that, I’m exempt from taxes and such—well, I’m cheating the system.
At first glance, it doesn’t look like anyone lives here.
The entrance just looks like the door to a small, narrow wooden storage shed.
That door is situated between a Brickwork building and a white stone building.
The first thing Mineha-san said upon seeing my dwelling was, “Where the heck do you live?”
Entering from the front leads straight to another door, which opens into a courtyard.
In the middle of the courtyard stands a solitary tower. A stone-walled Tower.
I call it the Watchtower. It just felt like one, somehow.
Though I’ve laughed before at how small it is for a watchtower.
“But looking at it like this…”
Just like Torquetum’s base, it’s surrounded on all four sides.
And then I noticed for the first time. The building on the opposite side, sandwiching the Tower… what is that building?
Mineha-san put her hands on her hips and said.
“Looking at it like this, what?”
“The atmosphere is similar to the Tower at Torquetum’s base.”
“I haven’t actually been there yet. Bid invited me, though.”
“Bid-san?”
A former party member of ‘Zan Brave’.
A black-haired rabbit-folk girl. A Holland Lop Ear, I believe.
That base originally belonged to ‘Zan Brave’.
“I heard they disbanded, but she’s still living there thanks to Torquetum’s kindness.”
“Huh. Will she eventually join Torquetum, I wonder?”
“Maybe. She said she couldn’t think about that sort of thing right now, at least.”
I think they disbanded because of romance between members, right? Well, that happens.
I entered the Watchtower while talking with Mineha-san, who was perched on my shoulder.
Dagaa climbed onto my head. This little guy.
The Watchtower, which I hadn’t entered in a while, felt somewhat clean.
As if seeing through my reaction, Mineha-san puffed out her chest proudly.
“I cleaned it.”
“Thank you very much.”
“It was hard work. So, it was the second floor, right? But there aren’t any rooms.”
“I’ll check anyway.”
“Fine by me.”
As we climbed the Spiral Staircase, I noticed something: the other one spiraled clockwise, but this one spirals counter-clockwise.
There was no door on the wall of the second floor.
“See? Nothing here.”
“No. The wall is white.”
Why hadn’t I noticed before?
The spot where the door was in the first Tower was now a pure white wall.
The rest was stone block wall. Mineha-san gasped at my words.
“I-I didn’t notice at all!”
“Na!”
“Alright then.”
I activated [Wheel of Fortune].
The wall glowed yellow, and… let’s see… there it is. The green light in the bottom left.
Pushing a single block caused it to slide inward, creating a cavity.
It’s exactly the same as the other Tower. There was a switch further down; I pushed it.
With a series of clicks and clacks, the white wall broke into blocks and flipped over.
“Wh-What is this!”
“Na!?”
Starting from the top left and moving diagonally like a wave, a picture appeared on the white wall.
And this picture… there’s no doubt. It’s far too familiar.
“It’s the Junkyard.”
“Junkyard? But there’s no junk here.”
“I’m sure of it. It’s the Junkyard. Probably that place.”
Depicted there were pillars and a floor. A scene from the Dungeon.
And radiating from the center were rings… nine of them, drawn in circles.
Each of the nine rings bore a different pattern.
Only the very center was empty. Just a cleanly drawn ring.
I’d seen something similar to these nine rings on a wall in the Junkyard.
Finally, there was more text. Ancient language again. Good thing I learned from the Witch.
“Let’s see— ‘Offer the Holy Seal to the Second Tower, offer the Sacred Tree’s prayer to the Sacred Chamber. I wish upon the Ark. Hayarn’s Legacy sleeps in dreams.’ Huh…”
“Makes no sense.”
“Ah, there’s something written further down. Let’s see… was it carved later? ‘I, unable to reach Hayyarn, cannot fulfill it. Someday, I will continue to see this endless dream. Alhazardo Abramelin’— Eh?”
I was startled by the completely unexpected name.
Alhazardo Abramelin. A Tier I Seeker.
And the Master of the Grand Guild, the headquarters of the Seeker Guild.
That meant he was the top of all Seekers.
For me, while there’s no direct connection regarding That Forest and other things, he’s someone I have some ties with.
“Well, that’s quite the big name to pop up,” Mineha-san remarked.
“Na?”
“Yes, he’s the person at the pinnacle of the Seekers.”
This can’t be the end, right?
Take the Holy Seal to the Second Tower… I scanned the picture.
Ah, this center ring. There’s an indentation, shaped for something to fit into it. Judging by the round shape, there’s no mistake.
I took out the Holy Seal and fitted it in. It fit perfectly.
With that, the section clicked inward and slid, revealing a cavity.
There was something inside. I reached in, grasped it, and pulled it out.
It was a blue, perfectly square plate.
Its surface bore a relief carving of a large white tree.
This… is this the Sacred Tree? The Sacred Tree’s prayer.
Hmm, have I seen this somewhere before? Where was it?
“‘Offer this to the Sacred Chamber,’ huh.”
“The Sacred Chamber is the Junkyard, right?”
“That’s right. I’m heading there now.”
“I’m going too.”
“Na!”
I thought you’d say that.